Feeder rat problem . Any insight appreciated .

Never have had a issue with this massive company until today . Went to grab some rats from the freezer and there I find this . Will not be feeding ,but would really like to know what this is all about . Has anyone seen this before ? What is it? It's pretty crazy to me this company would even send something like this . Any help is appreciated . Thanks

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/show...atid=newimages

Unsure why link is not working . Sorry people . Pics is in my gallery . Trying to sort it out ......

http://s1175.photobucket.com/user/An...tml?sort=3&o=1

Looks like it was chewed on or diseased, maybe?

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...age_301166.jpg

Thanks for the image man I appreciate it . Still very new to the forum and how it works.

That is really weird...interested to see if anyone knows what this is as I'm breeding rats and have never seen anything like that.

Did it go into the freezer like that or are you just noticing it now that you took it out?

My guess (and that's all it is - a guess) is it might be the aftermath of a mite infestation? Does that tail have the same type of wounds on it? Let's hope it's not mites as that would be one heck of a treatment on a whole colony, especially a huge one. :(

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Originally Posted by Andylee11

Thanks for the image man I appreciate it . Still very new to the forum and how it works.

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No problem! But I'm not a man LOL!

The mice I used to get from pet supplies plus had that sometimes. Never fed it though.

SORRY BCR!!!!!


I just got this shipment of rats in last week . Right into the freezer they went . As the rat defrosted the red bumps became a lot more noticeable . Through out most the body . The pics really don't do it justice . In person it looks like chicken pox on a human. Just crazy to me . The tail looks pretty scared as well . These are not my rats just to clarify . I'm surprised no one else has seen this as these come from a very popular place . Finding more "infected rats " as I speak .

http://www.ratfanclub.org/skin.html Mites maybe? Just found this article thing

Mites would definitely be my first guess. They scratch, and scratch and get scabs all over.

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Thank you very much new2dis . Interesting read with a lot of info I have never seen . Appreciated !

My guess are parasites such as mites, pretty severe infestation to show like this IMO.

When rats bite each other it's a lot more gruesome.

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I had one rat from Big Cheese who had some sort of skin condition. Not as bad as that one but it was missing some fur and had kind of scaly looking skin where the fur was missing. I gave that rat to the cats instead of the snakes. Cats are tough ;). And probably snakes in the wild eat all kinds of diseased rodents but no reason to tempt trouble if you don't have to.

I can imagine one janky-looking rat slipping past quality control but if there are more than that in your shipment you should contact them to file a complaint.

A huge thank you to all who have posted there opinions and have shared info . I do appreciate it . A complaint has been filed with this company so we shall see . Not expecting much , but I will be quite interested in hearing back from them . Thanks to you all again for your input .

That is a great Article maybe a mod could save this here on BP

That looks like a bad mite infestation.

What is the company? I am getting ready to order rats, I dont want any of those.

Thanks for the input jeanne . I don't want to deliberlty throw any company under then bus , but for the sake of people like me and you I will say it's probably the largest most well know company for feeders . I discarded the "infected" rats sent a email and hopefully this won't happen again. I've never had any issues what so ever with this company , aside from this .

Absolutely without a shred of doubt, mites. A really bad case too. Those rats were miserable before they died and were likely kept in really crappy conditions. rodent pro is my guess on source. Try to find a local source and support your community breeders if you can. One of the reasons some companies sell so cheap is because they sell crap like this. It won't hurt your snakes if they eat them, but I'd take a pass on any future business with whoever they came from.

Wilomn thank you for the reply and the info . I agree with trying to buy local, pretty hard to find in my area . Perhaps I'll expand the search to the next largest city and will maybe find some luck there.

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Originally Posted by Andylee11

Wilomn thank you for the reply and the info . I agree with trying to buy local, pretty hard to find in my area . Perhaps I'll expand the search to the next largest city and will maybe find some luck there.

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Double check facebook for reptile groups near you and post there asking about feeders. That's probably your best bet to finding local people that sell surplus for very reasonable prices.

You would also be helping out your fellow herpers by letting us know who that crap came from. No one should have those sold to them. Unless maybe you raise snapping turtles.

It dont matter that its a big company..U shld really tell who it was so others dont end up w rats lk that and time wasted.. I wld be ticked off to have my time and money wasted by that company.. Whether they make it right or not, people should kno what company is selling rats like that. I am sorry, but one cannot miss an infestation like that. That was simply ignored by the rat supplier.

I kind of figured it was a given that this company would be no other then rodent pro . But incase my hints were inaccurate there it is.

I don't think there is anything wrong with having shared the supplier. You are only providing factual information about the product you received.

That said, there have been many negative posts about Rodent Pro. I would recommend Big Cheese instead. Their packaging is far superior to RP, and the feeders are clean and appear healthy (in my experience). The orders I've gotten from RP had bedding and feces in them usually, and the packaging was sloppy.

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Originally Posted by Gilligan

I don't think there is anything wrong with having shared the supplier. You are only providing factual information about the product you received.

That said, there have been many negative posts about Rodent Pro. I would recommend Big Cheese instead. Their packaging is far superior to RP, and the feeders are clean and appear healthy (in my experience). The orders I've gotten from RP had bedding and feces in them usually, and the packaging was sloppy.

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That is a valid point. I've never had any other issues with RP other then this . If I ever get a email I'll let you guys know what it said . I'm doubting anything worth while will come of it but I'll least humor everyone . Oh , thank you for the recommendation I will certainly be looking into other options .

From what I've heard, rodent pro gets rats from many suppliers, so they aren't all from one facility that they monitor... Could make it easier to miss or have bad quality control when they may not even see all the rats they sell. I've had good luck with bigcheese and perfect prey myself.

I'm new to all of this and have only ordered rodents two times. First was rodent pro and the second time was big cheese. You can really see the difference in quality between the two orders. When thawed the big cheese rodents look like they were groomed. I mean they really look good and healthy. Well as healthy as you can look and be dead. On the other hand the rodent pro rodents look thin and not so healthy. Keep in mind that this was a comparison of only one order from each company and future orders may or may not yield the same results.